Saturday, 22 March 2014

Court orders Bikita woman to pay maintenance

A Bikita woman who has been dithering about going for paternity tests for a child she is claiming maintenance for has been warned by a Magistrate Constance Mutandwa that she would pay maintenance to the boyfriend instead unless she takes the tests immediately.

Jerina Gonyora is claiming maintenance from Taurai Gwenyana (36) for a four-year-old son she is claiming she had with the later. However, Gwenyana has been insisting in court for paternity tests because the two initially had a relationship and went their different ways then resumed again after some years.

Gwenyana claimed that Gonyora could have been seeing other men and therefore he doubted whether the child was his.

The court was told that Gwenyana had already paid $350 for the paternity tests but Gonyora had not been forthcoming. Gonyora said she could not take the tests because she did not have a national identity card which is a requirement for the process to take place. She told the courts that she lost her national identity card.

Zaka Magistrate Constance Mutandwa told Gonyora that if she failed to bring the national identity card for the paternity test to be conducted she was going to pay the maintenance to Gwenyana as well as pay the $350 Gwenyana paid for the tests. Gonyora would also pay $50 for the cancellation of the test.

Court orders Bikita woman to pay maintenance

Magistrate Mutandwa gave Gonyora a few days to get an ID and go for the tests. In the meantime, the Magistrate ordered Gwenyana to pay US$ 80 for the boy’s upkeep pending paternity tests results.

Mutandwa who was angry with Gonyora’s ingorance as the court papers clearly stated that there was need for a national identity card.
“Remember that these people give us dates, we just don’t wake up to say we are going for the test, make sure you put your house in order,” she said.

Gwenyana told the court that he was shocked when Gonyora told him that she was pregnant despite the fact that he had not seen her for almost a year.
“She was behaving weirdly. I last saw her in October 2008 and when we met again in July 2009 she said she was pregnant but when I asked her about it she was evasive. A week later she came to me saying I was responsible and my question was how could she take about 11months to deliver because the child was born on August 25, 2009,” said Gwenyana News